Thursday, December 29, 2016

ACW Pickett's Charge AAR

Got together today with the gang to finally play test the Pickett's Charge scenario that I will be running at DundraCon 2017 (February).

Roy Scaife, John Lantz and Matt Hilzendrager took on the role of the rebs ... taking a brigade each (5 infantry units with 2 artillery batteries).  Dan Kerrick, Wade Shows and myself played the stoic Union line.

Scenario outline (including order of battle) can be found here.

This game played out very well!  The Confederate units advanced quickly but got bogged down in the fence line and started taking very heavy casualties closing in on the Union position.  The Confederate attack was --- as expected --- halted.  However, all but one of the Union 2nd line (reserve) units had to be committed to the fray, with the Confederates actually breaking through in the center.

You might ask, how did they break through?  Well, the way we did this is that there are 5 Union infantry units along the "wall" --- each with a single reserve unit behind it.  Think of each Union unit + the reserve unit as a "lane" (like a swim lane).  One of the key deciding factors as to if the Confederates carried the day (essentially lost with honor and after achieving extra-ordinary progress given the situation), was the result of each swim lane at the end of the battle ... which was one of three following possibilities:

  1. Original Union unit is still in place (and the reserve unit has not been committed).  For each lane in which this is the case, +2 VP to the Union.
  2. The reserve unit is committed (original unit has been destroyed/removed from play).  For each lane in which this is the case, +1 VP to the Confederates.
  3. Bot the original unit and reserve unit have been destroyed/removed from play.  For each lane in which this is the case, +2 VP for the Confederates.

By games end, we had a single lane (center) that was broken through (#3 result), a single lane that was with the original unit (#1 result), and 3 lanes with reserve units committed (#2 result).  This put the final VPs for the battle based on accomplishment at 5 for the Confederates and 2 for the Union.  The Confederate division was in bad shape, which was expected, but they "won" the fight.  

In order to make the scenario playable - and victory possible for the Confederates - we didn't count regular VPs and instead determined victory only by the results of each lane.  Two Confederate units from the center managed to break over the wall in the center, but didn't get any farther.  All in all the result was in line with the historical outcome of the battle, but in such a way that was also playable and enjoyable as a wargame.  I still have a few things to finish up for the scenario, but not at all a bad showing for the first time out/play test.  Anyways, lots of pictures below --- note that the pictures are from three different sources ... phones, cameras and such from three different people ...


Picture Group 1
































































Picture Group 2




























Picture Group 3














































There you have it.  I'm really happy with the visual aspect of the game ... which is hard to capture with a camera --- nothing can show you the visual spectacle of looking down the Confederate line at "table level" with the naked eye ... something just awe inspiring at that level that for some reason is just not something a camera can capture IMO.

24 comments:

  1. Epic on so many levels Jay! I think you captured plenty of amazing images with the camera! Give me a figure count and why aren't you using your own ACW rules!?

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    1. Hey Ivor ... yes, using my own rules (This Hallowed Ground) :-) Thanks! Funny enough, the phone pictures are best ... the SLR pics are the worst of the bunch ... mind you, if I got my tripod out and did exposure they would be good pics ... was just lazy and the phone was doing the trick. :-)

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    2. Oh, and figure count ... humm ... around 1,000 :-)

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    3. Ok, apologies Jay, I was getting that new rules set Pickett's Charge confused with the scenario!!?? When I read through the post I was like "why would he be playing a new ACW rules set when he has his own?!" My bad for missing that :)

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    4. Lol, yeah, when I posted to TMP I had to clarify that it was the battle, not the rules :-) Too funny!

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    5. I know I'm clearly going into the "creeper" realm by commenting three times, but when I initially looked at your post I was on my phone - I'm on the laptop now and I hooked it up to the 56" TV just to scroll through all the photos. Why? Well, because it just felt like it was appropriate! I just have to say I'm even more blown away than I was initially - it's like I am looking at pre-production visualization for the movie "Gettysburg"! Seriously, amazing job!

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    6. lol ... shit, there is a creepy amount of replies ... I'm guilty then! :-) Awesome, super large resolution ... nice!! Thanks Ivor ... we continue to try to entice you to move to California and join our group! :-)

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  2. Totally stunning Jay! Really enjoyed all the photos.

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  3. Brilliant!!! Well worth looking through the pics.

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    1. Thanks! I know, we went a little overboard with pictures ... :-)

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  4. Wow! lots of fun! Great pictures and battlefield soldiers and scenery.

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  5. Very impressive Jay, spectacular in so many ways. Well done to everyone who contributed.
    Dave.

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  6. Wow. everything came together well. That looked like an awesome game! It is getting harder to resist 28mm ACW.

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    1. Hey David - thanks! Yes, take the 28mm ACW plunge! :-)

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  7. Superb stuff Jay....looks real! Run those pics through with the 'Pickett's Charge' soundtrack from Gettysburg and you're there!

    Awesome👏👏

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    1. lol, oh yes, we had the soundtrack playing the whole time :-) Thanks!

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  8. Lovely photos of an outstanding table! Very nice!

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  9. Amazing pics and game! I saw on the tmp thread that you purchased the mat (teddy bear fur) from an east coast vendor? Any chance of the informaiton, would like to look into the costing! robertscott89 at hotmail dot com Again, wow.

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    1. Hi - responded to your email - should have the information now :-)

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